Mountain View Voice

For the Record - September 28, 2012

Crime Briefs

Burglars hit house

A checkbook, cash and a camera were stolen from a single family home in the 900 block of San Pierre Way on Sept. 21, police said.

The victim, a woman, told officers she left her home at about 8 a.m. that Friday, and returned shortly before 1 p.m. and found the side door to her garage and the door leading into her home from the garage both open, Mountain View Police Department spokesman Sgt. Sean Thompson said.

The woman believes she scared off the burglar, or burglars, by returning home, since her TV and bicycle had been moved to different rooms, Thompson said.

Police aren't entirely sure how the burglar, or burglars, got into the home, but the woman told investigators that she may have left the side door to her garage unlocked.

Sneak attack

A man investigating intruders inside the tow yard where he works was blindsided with a blow to the back of the head shortly before midnight on Sept. 22, police said.

The victim, an employee of the tow yard, located in the 2500 block of Old Middlefield Way, had just returned to the yard when he heard something suspicious, according to Mountain View police spokesman, Sgt. Sean Thompson. He saw a man he didn't recognize, and told him to leave. The man started walking toward him and he repeated his command.

The 50-year-old tow yard employee was struck in the back of the head by a man he didn't see, Thompson said. The intruder and his accomplice fled the tow yard.

When emergency responders arrived, the man was bleeding from the back of his head, Thompson said. He described the man he saw as 6 feet tall, about 200 pounds and probably about 35 years old.

Update in pedestrian fatality

Police have released more information on the California Street accident that killed an Illinois man on Sept. 15.

Joshua Baker was hit about 500 feet west of the intersection of California Street and Shoreline Boulevard, according to Sgt. Sean Thompson, public information officer for the Mountain View Police Department.

Thompson would not say whether investigators believe Baker was jaywalking at the time of the accident.

The driver, whose name has not been released, was driving a maroon Toyota Camry between 35 mph and 40 mph when Baker was struck, just before 10:30 p.m. The speed limit on that part of California Street is 35 mph. Baker had just left a friend's house.

The driver was not injured, though the passenger-side hood was damaged and the passenger-side windshield was shattered.

Toxicology reports have yet to come back for both the driver and Baker, but Thompson said alcohol does not appear to have been a factor for either individual.